The Revolt in Haifa

from CrimethInc.

The Revolt in Haifa: An Eyewitness Report

The following is an anonymous submission from Occupied Palestine, documenting and discussing the events of the past month in Haifa, Jerusalem, and the surrounding area. For some background on anarchism in the region, you could consult our earlier interview on the subject.

During the last month, a popular uprising has sprung up across the land in Palestine and refugee communities abroad. It broke out in Jerusalem, spread to Palestinian villages, towns and neighborhoods in “48 Palestine” (i.e., so-called Israel), and eventually the West Bank, Gaza, refugee camps in nearby countries, and Israeli consulates everywhere. For the first time in decades, the Palestinians showed that not only do they still exist, they are unified and willing to resist, despite all of Israel’s attempts to divide them and crush their spirit. The first days of the revolt were led by the Palestinians of 48, those in the territories occupied in 1948. They sometimes also called “Israeli Arabs” and hold Israeli citizenship. The protests were held in many Arab and mixed cities across so-called Israel; I’ll talk especially about Haifa, the city where I live and witness the events as they unfold.

This article will be divided into a few parts. It’s crucial for me to give some background on the current situation, as well as some history of 48 Palestinians and the resistance so far to Israeli apartheid and occupation. I can only give a quick summary, I’m not an expert or historian and enough material already exists on the subject. To understand the Palestinian issue, I highly suggest the book The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappé, an excellent report on the Nakba of 1948 and how the Zionist state came to be. After the background, I present eyewitness reports on the events in my city, Haifa, and also some other points of resistance, the fascist counter-insurrection, the repression, and other important events occurring during the month. To conclude, I’ll share some thoughts on the current situation. At the end: a field guide to Israeli fascism! Fun stuff! Stick around.

Background

The best place to start talking about 48 Palestine and Palestine in general is the Nakba (“catastrophe” in Arabic), in which Zionist occupation militias invaded the land in 1948, destroyed villages, massacred the local population, and caused mass expulsion and displacement, leading to one of the biggest refugee crises in history. About 700,000 people left the land, never able to return. Many of them are still aspiring to return to their or their ancestors’ homeland. Not far away from where I live in Haifa, in a road leading from the Hadar neighborhood to downtown, the attack on Arabic Haifa began. Zionist militants rolled explosive barrels down the road to bomb Arab neighborhoods. The steep geography of the city was to their advantage, as from up in the hills, they could attack the Arab neighborhoods located below.

Only recently, as I started to really learn the untold history of this city, did I find out all the horror stories. In the Zionist indoctrination in school, you are only taught about the brave “liberation wars” Jewish men fought against the terror; sometimes you are even taught that this land was completely empty. I learned about the massacre in the oil refinery factory, that after the Palmah, a Zionist militia, threw a bomb at an Arab worker gathering outside, killing six people and injured 42, the workers stormed the building and killed 39 of their fellow Jewish workers. Haifa was always a working-class city with a strong workers’ solidarity, even in the toughest times, and this aggression damaged severely that relationship. In an act of revenge, Palmah militants invaded nearby villages—Balad al-Sheikh and Hawasa—and massacred more than 60 people. I learned about the bombardment and the Zionist terror in Arab neighborhoods, especially Wadi Salib, Wadi Nisnas, Halisa and the whole downtown area. I learned about how when people gathered in the port to evacuate from the city, Zionist militias on mountain slopes overlooking the crowd bombard the area, causing panic and chaos, in order to make sure that the people leaving wouldn’t have second thoughts about coming back.

About 61,000 Palestinians left the city. Some left temporarily, hoping to come back when the situation had calmed down, only to realize that there were new borders, and they would never be able to return to their homes. The 4000 Palestinians that were able to remain in Haifa despite the ethnic cleansing campaign were concentrated in the Wadi Nisnas neighborhood, a Palestinian neighborhood in Haifa to this day. This ghettoization was necessary to establish the Jewish city.

The absentee property law, one of the first laws of the newly born state, enabled the state to declare the land and homes of the refugees who fled to nearby “hostile” countries to be state property, and many of those neighborhoods were occupied by newly arrived Jewish immigrants—like Wadi Salib in Haifa, which became populated by Moroccan Jews. In the first years of the state, martial law was imposed on the Palestinian population that survived the Nakba. Military rule enabled the state to impose curfews, confiscation of property, demolition of buildings, expulsion of residents, expropriation of land, and restriction of movement. The point was to colonize the land as much as possible, maximizing the Jewish settlements and restricting the Palestinians. Martial law ended in 1966, and a year later, in 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula. The West Bank and Gaza Strip, unlike the territories occupied in 1948, never officially became part of Israel, and their occupation was supposed to be “temporary” until a future agreement was reached between Israel and a Palestinian leadership. Military rule was established in these territories, and many Jewish settlements were built, some of them populated by the most extreme racist fringes of the Israeli far right.

The history of resistance amongst 48 Palestinians is characterized by annual commemoration of events signifying moments of Palestinian collective courage and resilience. Other than the Nakba day, commemorated every year in May 15, one such event is Land Day. In March 30, 1976, the Palestinians of Galilee and the Negev rose up against a plan of land expropriation by Israel intended to promote the Judaization of Galilee and steal land from Palestinians. A general strike was announced, and riots occurred across many towns and villages in both 48 and 67 Palestine. The police couldn’t handle the events and the army went in. Six protesters were killed, three of them in the town of Sakhnin. Ever since then, the event is commemorated annually with marches and events across Palestine.

Another important sequence in the history of popular resistance is known as the October 2000 events. During the second intifada, the protests that started in Umm al-Fahm spread to many cities across the land, with massive riots and fierce fighting against police forces. In Wadi Arra, Nazareth, Haifa, Jaffa, the Galilee, the Negev, and many other Arab and mixed villages and cities, protesters blocked roads, threw Molotov cocktails and stones, and attacked police stations. That was one of the many times that Palestinians showed unity, with the Palestinians of 48 and 67 fighting together, as one people, despite all the attempts of Israelization and division. But there was also a massive mobilization in reaction. Mobs of Israeli Jews rioted in Jewish and mixed cities, attacking Palestinians and Palestinian businesses. Twelve Palestinians were killed during the events, and one Israeli Jew. Despite investigations, no one was ever punished for the killings, and all the cases against the police officers who were suspected of the killings were closed.

After October 2000, many of the youths in 48 Palestine turned to crime, and weapons begun to appear in Arab villages, towns, and neighborhoods. The issue of criminal activity is very painful and destructive in 48 Palestine; it is literally killing the society from the inside. In 2020, 113 Palestinians were killed in gang-related activity; criminal organizations have literally taken over towns and villages. Just a few months ago, there were protests against violence in Arab towns, and some of them were attacked by police. A huge number of weapons are located in Palestinian towns, and it seems that the state is completely happy about it. They will intervene as soon as Jews are threatened and make it into a terrorist situation, but they allow the Arabs to kill each other. Many youths without a future and nowhere to go are turning to crime, and the criminal lifestyle has become some kind of subculture. The issue of weapons will play a big part in the current uprising.

This year, in Jaffa, on April 18, 2021, a rabbi and a manager of a Jewish yeshiva were attacked by local Palestinians. This yeshiva is what’s known in Israel as a “Torah nucleus”—these are groups of settlers and right-wing activists, usually from the West Bank, who are coming to Palestinian neighborhoods and mixed cities in order to establish synagogues and yeshivas and build Jewish communities as a colonization and Judaization campaign in the area. It’s important to mention that the yeshiva was built in Ajami, one of the last remaining Palestinian neighborhoods in Jaffa. The history of the Palestinians in Jaffa, like anywhere else in Palestine, is a story of dispossession and exclusion, and in Jaffa, this was coupled with gentrification and crime. The media presented the event as a senseless attack against a Jewish rabbi; riots broke out in which local Palestinians attacked the police and defended their neighborhoods.

In order to understand the current explosion, one must understand the importance of Jerusalem to the Palestinian collective consciousness. The city is a massive stronghold of resistance, seen as a place to defend at all costs. Many mass uprisings have broken out in Jerusalem, including the second intifada, which broke out after Ariel Sharon, then the minister of defense, visited the Al-Aqsa compound, which was seen as a serious provocation.

To understand Jerusalem is to understand a big part of the Zionist mentality and the Palestinian resistance. After the occupation in 1948, the city was divided into the western part, under Israeli control, and an eastern part, under Jordanian control. After the occupation of 1967, the city “reunited,” and the Palestinians received permanent residency. The “reunification” of Jerusalem is celebrated annually in Israel; the Hebrew date of the occupation is a national holiday, marked by a “flag parade” in which many Israelis march from the city center and right-wing participants enter the Muslim quarter of the old city, waving flags and shouting racist slogans, under full police protection.

Jerusalem is a laboratory for apartheid and settler colonialism. The Palestinian neighborhoods in the eastern part of town are completely neglected. Refugee camps inhabited by those who fled in 1948 and are forbidden to return to their original homes are located near poor Arab neighborhoods and Jewish settlements, surrounded by walls. These are dense, poverty-stricken ghettos; some parts aren’t even connected to the sewage system. Construction permits are almost never given to Arabs, so most construction is illegal. In the midst of all this, there are racist Israeli settlers with a clear plan to Judaize East Jerusalem and make it like the West.

The Al-Aqsa compound, or the Temple Mount, is one of the most explosive regions in the world. The mosque, one of the holiest places in Islam, is a stronghold of resistance, a national symbol, and an area of ethnic tension. After Israeli police decided to put barriers at Bab al’Amud, one of the entrances, and to restrict the number of worshipers to 10,000, riots broke out, with many of the protesters attacking police, setting streets on fire, and damaging security cameras. The barriers were eventually removed. At the same time, a few Palestinians uploaded TikTok videos with a nationalistic character showing them attacking Jews in the city, and far-right mobs were organized to attack Palestinians in the market and the city center. Lehava, a far-right fascist organization, led a racist march from the city center to Bab al’Amud, chanting “Death to Arabs,” and were blocked by police near their destination. Riot cops entered Al-Aqsa mosque on May 9 and 10, and in the intense riots that broke out, at least 12 cops and more than 215 people were injured.

In Sheikh Jarrah, a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers have been trying to Judaize the area and evict the Palestinians for more than a decade. Extremist Jewish settlements exist in other Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, like Silwan and Abu Tor, where they are completely protected by Israeli police and armed thugs. Religious and nationalist settler organizations, backed by wealthy donors from abroad, mainly American Jews, are engaging in legal battles against Palestinian communities and property via the Israeli judicial system.

Sheikh Jarrah is a very old neighborhood in Jerusalem, dating to the 12th century. During the 1950s, while the area was under the control of Jordan, the Jordanian government housed Palestinian refugees there who had fled from the 1948 occupation and Nakba. The current dispute began in 2001, when Israeli settlers broke inside a sealed section of the Al-Kurd family’s house and refused to leave, arguing that the house was once owned by Jews. The Jerusalem District Court ruled in their favor. The court ruling was based on an Ottoman-era bill of sale, the authenticity of which was challenged in 2009 on the grounds that the building had only been rented to the Sephardi Community Committee, the Jewish group that allegedly owned the property. Moreover, the Palestinian families and their supporters maintained that the Ottoman documents that Israel’s Supreme Court had validated were in fact forgeries. The Al-Kurds were evicted in 2008.

In August 2009, the al-Hanoun and al-Ghawi families were evicted from two homes in Sheikh Jarrah and Jewish families moved in, based on a Supreme Court ruling that the property was owned by Jews. This provoked outrage from all over the world. During 2010, weekly demonstrations were held in the neighborhood by Israeli left-wing activists and local Palestinians. The global reaction and the struggle were able to prevent further evictions until 2017, when another Palestinian family was evicted—the Shamasna family. During the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, the Israeli courts ruled that eight families, roughly 500 people, are to be evicted. The verdict has been appealed, and the legal hearing has been postponed several times due to the riots occurring in the neighborhood and international pressure.

The ground was ripe for insurrection.



Timeline of the Revolt

This timeline will concentrate mainly on events in Haifa, but will mention important events in other cities that were central to the current uprising, including Jerusalem/Al-Quds, Lydd, Akko, Jaffa, and Ramle. Some events will be missing. I’m not a journalist; this might not be perfect, but these are the events as I experienced them. As I’m writing this, the situation has “calmed down,” but events are still occurring, Gaza is a living hell, fascists are still attacking people in small groups, and state repression campaigns are ongoing.

May 9

As I approached the German Colony, a big crowd had already gathered to protest the latest invasion of Al-Aqsa and the planned evictions in Sheikh Jarrah. The German Colony is a big neighborhood in the middle of the city, in proximity to Wadi Nisnas, that got its name from being a German Templers settlement during the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century. It became a kind of Bohemian center for many Palestinian youths in the north of Israel, with many restaurants, cafés, and clubs. The main street, which used to be called Carmel Boulevard and is now called “Ben Gurion” Boulevard, leads to the Bahai temple, and the square in the middle of it, known by Palestinians as Ha’asir square, is a regular site for pro-Palestinian demonstrations. The Hirak, which literally means “movement” in Arabic, is a decentralized movement of local cells that resemble the model of affinity groups. Different Hirak groups are active in many towns and coordinate with each other. Hirak Haifa called the people to gather at 8 pm, and a few hundred people answered the call.

As we moved from the square to the road in order to block it, police rushed to the front to make a line in order prevent us from marching. People turned back and started marching to the other side instead, which made the police run to the other side as well, and then people quickly turned again and started marching in the intended direction. The cops eventually made lines on both sides to kettle the demonstrators. The Shabab were clearly visible—the Palestinian youth, known as the more militant resistance. The atmosphere was very tense; people stood in front of the police line, waving flags and singing songs. Some protesters tried to push through police line and were violently arrested. The situation became even tenser as people started to shout slurs at the police and to give them the finger. Then things became chaotic.

As the stun grenades were fired directly toward the crowd and people ran to take cover, the sounds of bombing could be heard from miles away. The yards of restaurants became a place to take shelter, and stones and empty bottles were thrown at the cops. A trash bin was set on fire. Fifteen people were arrested that day. For me, it was war zone, but it was only a taste of what was to come in the following days.

At the same time, in Nazareth, a similar protest was taking place in front of a police station. Tires were burned to serve as barricades, and clashes with cops led to a few arrests.

May 10

I arrived late at the German Colony that day, when the riot was near its end, but I did see the Shabab taking over Carmel Boulevard, throwing stones and setting burning barricades in nearby streets. Fifteen arrests had already been made. At the same time, I learned that throughout the country, the situation had escalated, beginning to resemble a mass popular uprising.

It was Jerusalem day, the national day celebrating the occupation of the eastern part of town in 1967 and the so-called “reunification” of the city, and the annual flag parade was supposed to march from the city center in the west through the old city in the east, during the riots in Bab al‘Amud and Sheikh Jarrah, and the police invasion of Al-Aqsa. The city completely exploded. Hundreds rioted in the Al-Aqsa compound. Lynching attempts took place [in this region, the word “lynching” describes a group of people beating up one person, sometimes killing them, otherwise severely injuring them]. Around 5 pm, Hamas announced from Gaza that Israel had one hour to evict all cops from Al-Aqsa and Sheikh Jarrah. As the hour passed, at 6:02 pm, sirens were heard in Jerusalem, and rockets were fired from Gaza toward the city. Participants in the flag parade ran for cover. The police, in contrast to recent years, announced that entering the old city will be forbidden, and blocked marchers trying to enter.

In response to the shooting, Israel announced a military operation in Gaza, and military airplanes begun to bomb the Gaza Strip, causing mass destruction, killing, and displacement. Hamas in return launched rockets at Israeli cities, chiefly causing damage to buildings, but also a few deaths.

In Lod, also known among Palestinians as Al-Lydd, a historically Palestinian, now mixed city in the center, not far away from Tel Aviv, the situation reached the scale of full-blown ethnic riots. Palestinians set fires to cars, synagogues, municipal buildings, and a military preparatory school. During the riots, a Palestinian was shot dead by a Jewish resident. Riots occurred also outside the hospital. In the nearby Ramle, synagogues and a graveyard were also burned, stores were looted, and stones and fireworks were fired toward cops and random people. While it’s very hard to justify some of the actions of the Shabab, and they unfortunately had a clearly nationalistic and religious character, it’s important to mention that a lot of the synagogues that were damaged at the beginning were those of the right-wing Torah nucleus cells, with a clear mission to Judaize mixed cities. It’s also important to understand the context in the cities of Lydd and Ramle, and how ghettoized the segregated Palestinian communities are there.

Riots also took place in Jaffa, with protesters throwing stones and firing fireworks at police, and all across the north, in Galilee and the Negev. More than 100 people were arrested, and police stations were burned.

May 11

The fascist reaction began. As Jewish and Arab left-wing activists gathered for a non-violent peace demonstration at the UNESCO Square at the German Colony leading to the Bahai Temple, far-right protesters gathered in front of them, shouting “Death to Arabs!” and accusing them of being traitors. Police separated the two groups. Down the street, at Ha’asir square, Palestinians had already gathered and the energy was high. One Shabab youth climbed the pole of a streetlight to raise a Palestinian flag. Riot police brought horses and a water cannon to deal with the protesters. The stun grenades, as usual, came out of nowhere, and the neighborhood turned into a war zone.

Some restaurants and businesses in the area opened their doors in solidarity to people fleeing the cops. The Shabab fought bravely against the police that night. Dozens of trash bins were burned, streets were barricaded, and for a few hours, the police lost control. Allenby Street leading to Wadi Nisnas was literally on fire. Wadi Nisnas itself was fully barricaded, and Shabab youth stood on the square leading from the German Colony, guarding against police invasion. It felt like a liberated territory, a temporary autonomous zone, in which the state had to retreat, if only for the night. The tear gas clouds were definitely felt, but people held their ground.


Allenby road leading from the German Colony to Wadi Nisnas, May 11.


In the main street of the German Colony, the police allowed right-wing fascists to march through, shouting racist slurs, under heavy protection. In the video documenting the incident, cops are shown chasing a demonstrator and violently breaking into a house in a nearby street.

In Lydd, during the funeral of the Palestinian killed the previous day by a Jewish resident, the riots continued, and a cop was injured by a stone thrown at him. More cars and synagogues were damaged, and a few Jewish residents were evacuated in fear of violence. Border patrol entered the city, and there was talk about bringing the army in. A civil emergency was declared, giving more authority to the police and security agencies.


Israeli riot police in Lydd.


Right-wing protesters came to the city. In Ramle, Palestinians burned parts of the local market. At the same time, fascist mobs mobilized to come to the city, with leading figures like Itamar Ben-Gvir and the Kahanist far-right organization Lehava [for an explanation of Kahanism, see the appendix]. The fascists attacked people suspected of being Arabs, lynched an Arab driver, threw stones at Arab cars, and tried to enter a Palestinian neighborhood. In Akko, Palestinians rioted in the old city, burning local businesses and a police station.

May 12

Fascists gathered in Kiryat Eliezer, a mostly Jewish neighborhood near the German Colony, to march to Wadi Nisnas and attack Palestinians. They were there as a part of a nationwide anti-Palestinian mobilization. Far-right Telegram and WhatsApp groups appeared, urging people to bring knuckle-dusters, knives, baseball bats, and other “cold weapons,” and to prepare for battle. A call went out for people to gather in Wadi Nisnas to help defend the neighborhood, and youth gathered at the entrances from the early afternoon. Police blocked the fascists from reaching Wadi Nisnas, but they caused damage to businesses owned by Arabs on their way, attacked Palestinian drivers and passers, damaged cars, threw stones at Arab homes, and shouted racist slurs. The police attacked the people gathered in Wadi Nisnas with tear gas and stun grenades. It was impossible to reach the neighborhood, as I arrived too late and the whole area was completely blocked by riot police. Clashes also erupted at the German Colony, as had become a daily occurrence.

In Bat Yam, a fascist mob that tried to reach Jaffa rioted, smashing the windows of a business owned by an Arab and brutally lynching an Arab driver, which was caught on live television.

In Lydd, a curfew was announced starting at 8 pm; no one was allowed to enter the city or go out of his or her house. Despite this, massive numbers of far-right gangs, some of them settlers from the West Bank, came to the city and were allowed to walk around freely and attack Palestinians. Palestinians who gathered at the local mosque were attacked by riot police, border patrol, and fascists. Gunfights were reported throughout the night between settlers and Palestinians.

A cop was shot and injured in Ramle. Fascist anti-Arab mobs and attacks also took place in Hadera, Natanya, and some other Jewish cities. Three Israelis were lynched by Palestinians in Akko.


A police car burning in Haifa.


May 13

Groups of Shabab in the German Colony, downtown, Wadi Nisnas, and Hadar threw stones and Molotov cocktails, smashed banks and businesses, erected barricades, fought the police, and damaged streetlight poles, traffic lights, and buses. An elderly Israeli woman was injured from stones thrown at a bus. At the same time, people were now gathering daily at the courthouse to wait for arrestees to be released.

In Lydd, the curfew continued for another night, and street fights between police, Palestinians, and fascist mobs ensued. Settlers burned down an Arab store, while Palestinians burned a truck and a community center. An Israeli was stabbed. Gun fights between Palestinians and settlers were reported. The riots also continued in Ramle.


These were pretty much the main days of the events. During the following days, the riots largely died out. Protests and attacks continued on a smaller scale. Attention was largely directed at rockets flying towards Israeli cities and the massacre in Gaza. I touched on the main events in 48 Palestine, but barely mentioned the Negev and Galilee, which bravely resisted the state as well, the parallel uprising in the West Bank, and protests by Palestinian refugees at Israeli borders in Lebanon and Jordan and embassies and consulates everywhere.

The following days were characterized by heavy repression, conducted by the police and the infamous Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency. Cops raided people’s homes, looking for anyone involved in rioting or even in organized protests. They raided the homes of members of Hirak Haifa and made arrests, as people were thinking about how to commemorate the upcoming Nakba day on May 15.

On Nakba day, a big protest took place in Sakhnin, ending peacefully. The fascist mobs continued as well, but after this point, they all went underground. Some Arab houses in Haifa were marked, causing some residents to leave the city in fear. For some, this was reminiscent of the practices during the Nakba—causing fear and panic among the indigenous population to make them leave.

May 14

Palestinians were forming autonomous self-defense committees. From a statement released on Facebook by Khulud Khamis, a Palestinian from Haifa:

This morning (Friday 14, May 2021), I woke up to the news that 38 Palestinian youth were arrested during the night in Haifa. Some of them were minors, who were interrogated without parental accompaniment, while others with injuries were denied medical care. Lawyers from Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, had been waiting all night to meet with them, but as of that morning, they were denied the opportunity to provide any legal consultation.

These last few days have been almost surreal in Haifa. I have never witnessed anything like this happening in my beloved city. For the second night in a row, about 200 Jewish settler extremists, calling themselves “The Citizens’ Army,” have stormed Palestinian neighborhoods in Haifa. They are armed with bats and other weapons, many of them with military training background, and are highly organized. In the afternoon, small groups are seen entering buildings and marking with a red marker doors belonging to Palestinian residents. They have vandalized dozens of cars, attacked Palestinians in the streets, and attempted to break into the homes of Palestinians. Similar attacks have been carried out in other mixed cities, such as Lydd, Akka, Jerusalem.

Palestinian neighborhood and community representatives met yesterday to discuss protection tactics, because we have seen how the police not only hasn’t intervened to stop these attacks, they have enabled them and backed them. Instead of stopping the settlers’ attacks, the police attacked Palestinian protesters whose only crime was defending their homes.

After the first night, where we witnessed the lack of police action, some Israeli allies met with both the Mayor of Haifa and with the police. They basically told them there is nothing they can do.

We are not protected in our homes, towns, and cities, the violence is only escalating, Gaza is being attacked, children, women, and men are being killed, residents of Sheikh Jarrah are still facing forced expulsion, and the world remains silent, turning a blind eye.

The Israeli media is of course successfully portraying the Palestinian citizens as the instigators and hooligans in this equation, while almost completely ignoring the extremist settlers’ attacks. This only plays into the hands of Netanyahu, who has repeatedly failed to form a government following the four elections held during the last year and a half. As the situation stands right now, he has yet again a big chance of forming a government.

Palestinian citizens in Yaffa, Akka, Haifa, Lydd, and other places are forming self-protection committees. Lawyers, physicians, psychologists, and people to patrol our neighborhoods to protect us from the vicious attacks we are witnessing these past few days (my own testimony from what has happened in Haifa is in my previous post.

We are calling for immediate international intervention to stop this madness. We have been left to fend for ourselves, completely unprotected. Act now.

And on a more personal note:

Friends who are speaking up, protesting, taking action, resisting: you are on the right side of justice.

“Friends” who are silent: your silence is deafening.

And don’t you dare ask me what you can do or tell me that you feel helpless and there’s nothing you can do. There’s always something you can do. If you are ignorant of what is happening, educate yourself and start taking action. This is on you. You cannot say I didn’t know.

May 18

A general strike was announced in 48 Palestine. In Haifa, during the day, many events were held in Wadi Nisnas to celebrate Palestinian culture, including songs, live shows, drawings and activities for children. At 6 pm, a protest was called in Hadar, on the road leading to Wadi Nisnas. Heavy riot police came prepared. As people begun marching, the police quickly blocked the road, preventing them from marching. People sang songs and celebrated in the street instead. Despite the tension, the gathering ended peacefully.




The general strike in Haifa, May 18.


In the evening, a Palestinian near the German Colony reported that right-wing racists had marked his building, thrown stones and Molotov cocktails, and shouted racist slurs, then ran away.

In Jerusalem, during a demonstration supporting the general strike, police attacked people in Bab Al’Amud and riots occurred in Sheikh Jarrah.

May 19

In Umm al-Fahm, Mohammad Kiwan, a 17-year-old Palestinian, injured during the protests the previous week, was declared dead. Riots erupted at the entrance to the city.


Muhammad Kiwan, age 17, died of gunshot wounds he said were inflicted by police officers.


May 20-23

On May 21, a ceasefire was announced between Israel and Hamas, ending twelve days of military operations in Gaza and rocket launchings. During riots in Jerusalem, police once again entered the Al-Aqsa compound, repeating the provocation that had escalated the situation in the first place.

The state initiated an intense oppressive campaign intended to terrorize those dared to resist. About 2000 people were arrested. On the night of May 23, Israeli police announced operation “Law and Order,” aiming to arrest 500 people in 48 hours, in addition to approximately 1500 people who had already been arrested. In raids across the land, people were arrested on charges ranging from giving the finger to a cop1 and online posts to and rioting. Arrests still continue to this day.


The Youth Move Forward

The Palestinians feel betrayed and abandoned by the world. People only remember them when there’s an ongoing genocidal campaign, and even then, everybody is busy talking about how “complicated” the situation is. I’m not sure if they have anyone to trust, including their own “leadership.”

The Shabab, the youth fighting in the streets, the kids erecting barricades against the police and setting trash bins on fire, are completely alienated from any form of political force; they work in small informal groups, and many of them don’t give a fuck about politics at all. They come from the far edges of Palestinian society in 48, the direct consequence of the Zionist attempt to reduce this society to internal chaos. They are gangsters, drug dealers, outlaws of any kind, youth without a future from the poorest villages, towns, and neighborhoods of 48 Palestine, the lumpenproletariat, and—the most important thing—they are completely uncontrollable. The traditional politics of organizations, political parties, respectable religious leaders, and NGOs means nothing to them.

The new generation in Palestine has nothing left to lose. Even according to Israel’s infamous Shin Bet, they really are ungovernable. Whenever a riot or an uprising gets out of control, the authorities and security agencies look for “responsible” adults, respected “community leaders” to pacify the situation. But when you invest so much power in breaking a society from the inside to such an extent, you create an enemy that you can’t negotiate with, because he has zero fear of you and nothing to rely on or hope for. There is no going back to normal.

And they are being completely vilified. The media propaganda machine treats them as nothing but criminals, terrorists, savages, bloodthirsty pogromists, and they don’t get to have a voice. The riots are presented as nothing more than an outburst of violent anger from some hooligans, with the idea that our police force, intelligence agencies, and prison system will deal with them. It looks as though everybody decided to continue to push them as low as possible, to sweep them under the rug, to treat them as nothing more than monstrous murderers until the next outburst. Zionist apartheid is also a class system, and they hate poor Palestinians the most.

The uprising is also, of course, a form of class warfare, beyond the regular scope of ethnic conflict. I’ve read somewhere that during the first intifada, in its early days, many of the youth who revolted in Gaza and beyond weren’t very political and most of the attacks were directed against richer Palestinians. This goes way back to the great Arab revolt of 1936, when many of the attacks involved the Falahis, the peasant population of Palestine, acting against the urban elite. This dimension of the class struggle within Palestinian society is always erased from history, in favor of a more simplified ethnic conflict of Arabs against Jews.

This class struggle is always pushed aside once the big parties, the militarist factions, manage to take over; the first intifada, for example, was shut down by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). It was quickly transformed from a popular mass struggle to a top-down controlled opposition in the hands of a few corrupted bureaucrats. As we all know, once the militias and the professional revolutionaries take over, the people become spectators in their own “liberation,” and the mass popular appeal of the resistance is lost. The PLO and Fatah crushed the intifada in order to get the Oslo accords going, which divided the West Bank into small cantons and introduced the so-called Palestinian Authority. Fatah became the de facto long arm of Israel and the occupation, managing the apartheid from within. A similar (though not identical) process is taking place now with Hamas, in my opinion.

While I was composing this, the focus shifted completely to rockets striking Israeli cities from Gaza. Nine people in Israel died from Hamas rockets—including Palestinians, like in the village of Dahamash near Ramle. A few Hamas rockets reached as far as the West Bank. Rockets also came from Lebanon. The protests largely waned, and we don’t see large riots anymore. One can’t help but feel that Hamas and the militarist factions interrupted the birth of a popular, mass movement in the streets, in the inner cities of the occupation, which could have been capable of creating real damage to the stability of the state.

We can clearly see who benefits from this. The anarchy within Israeli cities is over, and Israel can sell the same old story to the world about us fighting Islamist jihadist terrorists who are shooting rockets at our cities. It’s a much more convenient story, and much easier to deal with. Perhaps the strategy of weakening the secular revolutionary Marxist fronts of the 1980s and strengthening Hamas has paid off. Reactionary ideologies are easier to control, and whenever needed, they can take over the struggle and kill mass movements.

In this system, everybody plays his part. The left does what the left always, historically, does in times of social upheaval: try to pacify the resistance and absorb its energy in order to direct it towards more “acceptable” (i.e., ineffective) terrain. The same old outdated tactics, boring predictable demonstrations, “non-violent” nonsense, and empty talks about shallow “co-existence,” peace, and democracy. There’s nothing really to expect from what’s left of the Israeli Jewish left, but even the Arab political parties have proved to be completely disconnected from what’s happening in the streets.

The communist “radical leftist” Hadash party from the Joint Arab List and the Ra’am party both got into the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) in the elections of March 23. They urged people to protest lawfully and refrain from violence. No wonder the youth are completely alienated from them. For 48 Palestinians, the Arab parties in the Knesset are the same thing that the Fatah and the PA are for 67 (West Bank) Palestinians: another face of the occupation, sellouts, collaborators, conflict managers, a tool of pacification for the regime. Just like Syriza in Greece or Podemos in Spain, they appear in mass movements to appropriate the language and the energy of the people revolting in order to channel all of it back into acting within the system—and of course, in the moment of truth, they will completely betray people. I doubt they have any credibility left now.

It has almost become cliché to mention this, but the problem of the Palestinians is not just the far-right assholes, but Zionism. Israeli racist mobs are the direct consequence of a country established on deeply racist roots—a settler colonial project built on the ruins of villages and the driving away of the indigenous population, of a Jewish supremacist state—at the expense of everyone else. Israel is probably one of the worst examples of a nation state as a way of solving things for oppressed people. It’s a lot easier for Israelis to get disgusted by far-right hooligans attacking a Palestinian, while the IDF’s genocidal campaign in Gaza (let alone the violent birth of this state) either goes unquestioned or is completely accepted. The IDF is the “people’s army,” and it is putting the platform of “Death to Arabs” into practice more efficiently than any grassroots fascist ever could.

Right now, the Gaza Strip is completely in ruins. Military airplanes drop bombs on clinics, a media tower fell down, entire neighborhoods are erased. The situation is unbearable. As I’m writing this, about 250 people have been killed and thousands are displaced. Gaza has been under siege since 2007; it was a hell on earth before the current massacre, the biggest open prison on earth, and now it has reached a situation of human catastrophe. This is mainstream Zionism, not the extremist edges.

We hear a lot of talk about “co-existence” lately, especially in mixed cities like Haifa—about how the riots have damaged the “co-existence” between Jews and Arabs. This is a myth. This co-existence is a coded way to describe living under Jewish supremacy, implying that the Palestinians should keep quiet and erase themselves in order to fit in. The Israeli population that celebrated “Independence Day” just a month earlier will never see that as a provocation in a historically Palestinian city that suffered one of the most brutal attacks during the Nakba—but if Palestinians dare to show that they exist, they will pay severely. Co-existence is a counter-insurgency operation.

It’s hard to predict what will happen next. The Shabab fought bravely against the police and liberated some territories, temporary autonomous zones in which the state wasn’t present for just one night and you could walk freely, beyond clouds of tear gas, and imagine a different reality. But they should not be free from criticism. Many of the attacks had a nationalistic character, and they did some things that are hard to defend. Attacking synagogues, buses, and random people wasn’t the best approach to the situation. What we desperately need right now is a joint insurrection, co-resistance, involving Jews and Arabs and all the people of this land, against all the authorities that keep us down and prevent us from seeing each other as fellow human beings. In the spaces of revolt, we must create autonomous liberated territories in which we could construct new ways of seeing each other and the world around us—to reinvent living, sharing a space as equals.

Unfortunately, for the time being, this is a fantasy. Too much blood has been spilled for people to trust each other. You can feel the tension everywhere—we live together in this city, but invisible mental borders divide us constantly.

The situation in the so-called United States inspires me. The George Floyd rebellion was a real, diverse insurrection. Black and white working people found each other in the streets and fought together against the system that exploits them. I’ve even heard that the first guy who set fire to the police precinct in Minneapolis was a white dude. This is a huge improvement for a place like the United States, and the conditions are now ripe for a multi-racial revolt of people fighting as one.

So everything is possible, I guess. But it’s hard to remain hopeful. It feels like we have a long way to go. Still, some people are not waiting. Connections are being formed every second under the daily apartheid reality, and visible and invisible borders are being smashed as we speak. It’s also important to note that we don’t have much time—in view of climate crisis and the worsening ecological situation, future intifadas will be fought for resources, clean water, and breathable air, as much as for land.

I’ll finish with a quote from Palestine, Mon Amour by Alfredo M. Bonnano:

There is no prospect of peace in sight. The ideal solution, at least as far as all those who have the freedom of peoples at heart can see, would be generalized insurrection. In other words, an intifada starting from the Israeli people that is capable of destroying the institutions that govern them and of proposing peace based on collaboration and mutual respect to the Palestinian people directly, without intermediaries. But for the time being, this perspective is only a dream. We must prepare for the worst.




Appendix: A Beginners’ Field Guide to Israeli Fascism

Much like the American and European far right, Israeli fascists became much more decentralized over the last few years, going from big organizations to informal organizing, mainly online and via apps like Telegram. Many of the mobs and mobilizations to attack Palestinians during the revolts don’t have names, or else the names changed constantly, as they went underground once they were exposed. I will still mention the big and well-known organizations, as they continue to be a force in mobilizations, spreading the propaganda of hate and serving as a gateway to more underground ways of organizing. I think it’s important for people abroad to be familiar with Israeli far-right groups, organizations, symbols, and ideologies, because they operate in Jewish communities everywhere. It’s a good way to keep our communities safe and to provide protection and solidarity to local Palestinians and refugees.

Kahanism—An extremist Jewish ideology named after rabbi Meir Kahane, an American rabbi active in Israel mainly during the 1980s, and a leading figure in the country’s far-right politics. He proposed to expel mainly Arabs and all other non-Jews from Israel in order to “purify” the land and establish an halacha (Jewish law) monarchy under the biblical greater Israel borders. Under his political party, Kach, he proposed racist laws that were reminiscent of the Nuremberg Laws until the party was outlawed in 1985 for racism. Kahane was eventually assassinated in New York City by an Egyptian-American, but his thought and ideology are still alive in today’s Israel and getting stronger.

Kahanist factions exist in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, especially among the extremist settlers of Hebron and Kiryat Arba, and they have been associated with numerous terrorist attacks and violent campaigns against Palestinians. Some (in)famous Kahanists include Baruch Goldstein, who opened fire on Muslim worshipers in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron in 1994, killing 29 people. Kahanist terrorists and militias continue to commit violent acts against Palestinians in the West Bank, Israel, and abroad. Kahanist organizations around the world include the Jewish Defense League and the Jewish Task Force.


A Kahanist flag.


Lehava—A large Kahanist organization. The Hebrew acronym of “for the prevention of assimilation in the holy land.” Known for targeting mixed relationships, especially between Jewish women and Arab men, for sending thugs to threaten and attack Palestinians dating Jews, and for attacking Palestinians in the streets of Jerusalem. Many of the leading figures live in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Lehava organized the racist “Death to Arabs” march from West to East Jerusalem on April 22, and many of the mobs looking for Palestinians in Jerusalem to attack in the days leading to the escalation are connected to the organization. They have some chapters abroad.


On the left, a logo for Im Tirzu; on the right, a Lehava logo.


Otzma Yehudit—A Kahanist, ultra-nationalist far-right political party. Many of its members are students and followers of rabbi Meir Kahane. This party usually fails to enter the Knesset during elections, but one of its leading members, Itamar Ben-Gvir, entered the Knesset during the last election, while running with the Religious Zionist List. Ben Gvir contributed his own part to the escalation by putting his “office” in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and taking part in mobilizing lynch mobs in Ramle.

Hilltop Youth—A religious and nationalist subculture of settler youth in the West Bank. Nicknamed after their habit of constructing outposts on top of the West Bank hills. It involves some Kahanists, some other kinds of religious fundamentalism and ultra-nationalism, all violent and dangerous. Some extremely violent terrorist undergrounds have emerged from these groups, such as the Bat Ayin underground, which tried to bomb a Palestinian girl’s school in East Jerusalem. Hilltop Youth settlers were seen during the current mobilization of fascist mobs, especially in Lydd, where they were armed and attacking Palestinians alongside police, despite the “curfew.”

Im Tirzu—A more secular Neo-Zionist fascist organization, built around student cells on university campuses. Im Tirzu focuses on ultra-nationalist activity, Nakba denial, and defamation and legal campaigns against leftists, refugees, migrants, and human rights organizations. After they sued a Facebook group for calling them fascists, Israeli court said that they do “point to certain similarities to fascism.” So they are fascist even by the account of the Israeli justice system, which is quite an achievement.


Follow what’s going on in Palestine!

  1. Israeli police are very sensitive. 

There are 77 Comments

In the Zionist indoctrination in school, you are only taught about the brave “liberation wars” Jewish men fought against the terror; sometimes you are even taught that this land was completely empty. "

Ok let's also look into this...

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/palestinians-instruct-teachers-to-t...

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/incitement-anti-semitism-and-hatred...

Also heard about Palestinian schools teaching Holocaust denial and promotion of Adolf Hitler as a liberator, but this would need sources.

You see there's no way out of this binary mess, other than rejecting the indoctrination enforced on both sides of this conflict.

if you find yourself rushing to the defense of states doing horrible shit by pointing out that there are “bAd peOPlE oN bOtH sIDEs”, you just might be an asshole and find yourself unwelcome and uncomfortable amongst anarchists.

It's not the "ZIONIST!" defender of Israeli nationalism who'd be inciting people here to reject State nationalist indoctrination made of resentment-charged historical narratives.

I'm against nationalist antisemites and other political demagogues that foment HATE based on ethnicity or religious background. The fact that they're Arabic or Muslim doesn't make them any less toxic scum than Western Neonazis.

Low-effort "austistic word capitalization" ain't no argument here.

Again, you completely miss the point. The article isn’t supporting or defending “Arabic or Muslim” “toxic scum” yet your defense of the state of Israel’s terribleness to the people of Palestine requires you to strawman until you’re red in the face because the is no defense of what they’re doing unless you just an awful person.

Where was I defending the State of Israel? Just prove me you aren't the one throwing a straw men.

I realize the internet and reading can be hard but the thread goes like this:
- an article points out that israel is doing bad shit.
- an anon is quick to point out that there are also bad palestinians thus misdirecting and in essence rushing to the defense of israel who is doing bad shit. the strawman lives here.
- unintelligible gibberish and reading comprehension failures.
- feels and deleted comments
- lost minutes of precious life.
- here we are

Understand?

behind an accusation that someone is "misdirecting", i sense a highly authoritarian/pedagogical worldview.

I think everyone here understand that israel has treated palestine like utter dog shit, what's the deal with this "appropriate grievance" narrative? Is everyone who disagrees with you a white nationalist or Zionist? Can anarchists disagree about which side of the conflict they are more sympathetic towards?

I'm personally not sympathetic towards either side, but yes the victims of the conflict could use our help and sympathy, in the same way that I'm sympathetic towards the struggles of indigenous and black people within the US but that doesn't mean i like them any better than white people.

if i write an article saying “Red is killing and torturing Blue and it’s horrible” and anon tersely retorts “yeah but Blue hates puppies!” this is a misdirection. understand?

if anarchists are disagreeing about which side of a conflict between a fucking highly militarized and oppressive state vs a largely oppressed and otherwise incarcerated civilian population then one of those people in the disagreement is not an fucking anarchist. understand?

To me it seems you are making a pathetic attempt to control someone's thoughts. To assume manipulation when met with disagreement is often a petty attempt to misdirect an open conversation. The @news comment-on-an-article format is actually more open ended than a real life conversation can actually be [as far as possible information is concerned]. I prefer information on anarchist website to be perspective, i'm not interested in this pedagogical/didactic method where a conversation needs to be directed. I especially don't understand why you want to belabor this when there's ample information on this website about what the isrealis have been doing to the palestinians. Nobody is denying anything about the article when I'm sure there's plenty to disagree with.

Understand? The links posted by anon concerning the Palestinian ministry of blah blah blah give the hypothetical user more rabbit holes. The link could be bullshit, anyone can be a zionist, that does not scare me in the least. I have zero interest in amish anarchy.

ahh the old “anti fascists are the real fascists” and “fake news!” argument. well played, CalvinSmith. well played. yes, yes everyone is trying to control your thoughts.

Neither of these anons are me - you can tell by the fact that there's a slight gap in time between their posts

Understand? :)

I’m lying they’re all me. Foiled again! DAMN ANARCHISTS TRYING TO CONTROL My BRAIN!

Almost heaven, West Virginia, trolling’ anews, cuz I got no real friends.

CalvinSmiiiiith, take me home, to a place, I beloooong, West Virginia, mountain momma, CalvinSmith, take me home.

also calvin is zachev because every anon is calvin which means they must also be zachev

you have literally been ranting about this for years and none of it has ever been true. Because your arguments have no foundations, you must revert to the old "anyone who doesn't agree with me is a trump supporter" schtick.

It is pretty entertaining to watch even if it's jarring/annoying.

this kind of bad faith commenting is equivalent to the liberal zionist who attempts to poison a conversation by saying "it's all just too complicated" - this criticism has almost nothing to do with the original article besides cherry picking one quote early on about how this person was educated. this is an anarchist website - yes, we understand, binaries bad, nationalism bad - say something else, you're boring everyone

I'm quite certain of sharing the political affiliations of this anonymous author, and certainly of Crimethinc itself - which is precisely why it saddens me to see an overenthusiastic radical make an ass out of herself (as well as of Anarchist websites) by submitting such obvious exaggerations that they border on being, well, fake-news. I'm sorry but there was no "revolt" in Haifa this month. There was no "uprising", no "rebellion". This is grotesquely blown out of proportion in a sad pompous fashion. Ask anybody in Israel if they've heard of a "revolt" in Haifa and they'll laugh at you. There were scuffles between Arabs and Jews in several cities for a few days, that's all. Again, I apologize.

I too am in Israel and can confirm that Stephanie Clitora is a Zionist shill and bored MAGA sadboi making things up on an anarchist website even using “fake news” like they are clever and not just completely pathetic.

"Zionist shill", "bored MAGA", "sadboi", "completely pathetic"...
And still, there was no "revolt" in Haifa. Sorry. Tembel.

You are right even though the article has sources and even photographic evidence and crimethinc has a history of doing thei research before publishing i’m gonna believe you instead totally trustworthy anon that’s defintely more in the know

First of all, I respect and love Crimethinc's work as much as you (and tried to convey that feeling), that's partly why this "Haifa Revolt" nonsense is so annoying. Second, about all the documentation - ever heard of "Gish gallop"? If you look closer you'll see this photographic evidence contains footage clearly marked as being from Ramleh, Lod, Jaffa, Bat Yam and Jerusalem - as well as from Haifa itself of course. No one's denying there was political violence followed by police repression in Haifa and other cities. But to call it a "revolt" is stupid. If I am accused of being a "Zionist shill" or "MAGA sadboi" for pointing this obvious fact out, so be it. Actually, I'm trying to correct this nonsense PRECISELY because I care about what outlets like Crimethinc publish. "Revolt" a'alek...

crimethinc has literally been calling "political violence followed by police repression" a "revolt" for as long as I can remember, probably since the first crimethinc person descended from the mountain with stone tablets that said - thou shall dumpster and shoplift.

that's what revolts are. why are you so dense?

OMG, all these Semitic words, not that I'm anti-Semitic, but c'mom, --- "Gish gallop", a'alek, sadboi, Ramleh, Lod, Jaffa, Brit Milah, Bat Yam, etc.

Anarchists can not have an honest conversation about Israel-Palestine (and Israel-Arab relations broadly) without discussing the institutional forces and their histories in the region. How can we do this?

1) Have a discussion about what it means to be "indigenous" to this region, especially in the case of Jewish history. While sometimes religious texts can be helpful in piecing together history, there are many other sources from government documents, written first-hand accounts, genetics, archaeology that support the notion that Jews, even Ashkenazim, are indigenous to this region. A good deal of how we talk about the conflicts there rely on answering these questions about who can be considered indigenous.

2) Have a discussion about what it means to call this region "Palestine" or "Israel" to begin with. Why do we call it "Occupied Palestine"? Who gave that region the name "Palestine"?

3) The historical and present-day narratives produced by Arab Nationalists shouldn't just be taken for granted, as if they are unbiased. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and The Arab League have interests in this region. The political organizations that claim to represent Palestinian Arab interests have a variety of relations with these larger, more powerful entities. An anarchist discussion should not erase those politics.

4) The roots of Arab Nationalism and Palestinian Nationalism should also be included alongside the roots of Zionism when discussing nationalist forces in the region.

These points aren't meant to erase the struggle of Palestinians for freedom. They are listed because it is so easy to move from support for Palestinians to anti-Semitic positions. How can we build a diverse resistance to the State and the nationalist forces that create and maintain the State if we exclude all the facts about how nationalism has functioned throughout the history of the region?

when the state of israel is no longer enjoying overwhelming military superiority, that would be an appropriate framing for the discussion. since that won't happen any time soon, it's highly suspicious "both sides" rhetoric.

even IF you're not a schill (which you probably are), you'd do well to consider current military realities as far more important/relevant than history lessons.

I don't know who has the superior military power or what the true military realities are. That is something I will research soon.

When we talk about framing though, I think the most appropriate way to even begin to approach the conflicts in the region is to map out the actual (political) relations first... as well as how those relations are different from the way a-political residents think, act, etc. It is pretty clear to me that understanding those relations has to begin with an understanding of this history of nationalism in the region that began during the Ottoman Empire. Then once those relations are at least mapped out, we could get into the weeds about military capacity, funding, so-called operations by the State, specific acts of terrorism, etc.

That said, I think it is rather obvious that anarchists are opposed to the State of Israel and to (most) Zionism... since (most) Zionism is a state-building nationalist project. But those oppositions are so obvious that, although worth repeating, do not contribute to what mainstream Palestinian solidarity from the Left is already saying. As an anarchist, I think the way we can contribute the most to this analysis and struggle is by doing what only anarchists can do... which is critique the fundamental (nationalist) values that everyone else except for us support to some degree. Only anarchists are sincere in their opposition to nationalism, so why isn't that opposition our primary contribution to the discussion?

There is a huge impact on the way the discussion unfolds when Jews are described as foreigners (occupiers) instead of as indigenous. There is a huge impact when the birth and reinforcement (and international relations) of Arab and Palestinian nationalism are left out of the analysis. An honest discussion should begin by recognizing that these are conflicts among indigenous people and not between one indigenous population and another colonial (white/Western) population. The reason why that needs to be part of the discussion is because the bottom-line is that all of these conflicts are about rights and entitlements to claim ownership and control of a territory. How, as anarchists, do we recognize who is right and entitled to live somewhere? We know what the Zionists think. We know what a lot of Arab and Palestinian Nationalists think. But what do we think when we are informed by past anarchists criticisms of nationalism and property rights in land and State sovereignty?

And last for this comment... I don't understand why anarchists seem to think it is irrelevant that Zionism isn't the only transnational movement involved in the region. As the article points out, Zionism is funded at a transnational scale. But so is Arab and Palestinian Nationalism! Gaza is ruled by a Hamas:

"Hamas was founded in 1987,[h] soon after the First Intifada broke out, as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood[23] which in its Gaza branch had previously been nonconfrontational toward Israel and hostile to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).[24]" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamas

The PLO:

"The ideology of the PLO was formulated in the founding year, 1964, in the Palestinian National Covenant.[20] The document is a combative anti-Zionist statement dedicated to the "restoration of the Palestinian homeland". It has no reference to religion. In 1968, the Charter was replaced by a comprehensively revised version.[21]" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_Liberation_Organization

And the PLO is a member of the Arab League:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Arab_League

And then there is Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which Iran is part of. Iran... a country who recognized Israel before and now doesn't, won't even say the name "Israel" and calls it "Occupied Palestine" or "The Zionist State"...

It's terrible that Palestinians are subject to the fighting of these groups.

And Iran is party of the

“Idon't know who has the superior military power or what the true military realities are”

Between Israel and the Palestinian people? You fucking troll. Everything you wrote after this is ignored because you started with showing yourself for what you are. Back to your basement.

To see this right wing jock style of disagreeing with people. Is this how you talk to people in real life?

it’s true we’re good at sports and are here to give you wedgies. also, fuck your respectability rules for disagreeing with someone. did you have something other than my tone to complain about?

Basements and being nice isn't that great of a thing to do for your so called fellow anarchists...

Dar! Losers live in BASEMENTS with their MOMS! Ever heard that one before? Why dont you go back to commie bully Twitter or something.

Bro… Take your monthly wingnut paycheck and go see a movie.

Anarchists contribute to leftist dialectics or else they are fascists.

You’re leaving anarchy? Splendid! Have a nice life, ZiggiePiggie.

Quite the opposite. I want it taken in a purely personalistic direction without the ideological ist/ism noise.

Is this because you prefer the intimate company of children? I don’t think that’s anarchy.

That's how I sum up all of your silly takes which likely come from a borg brigade of less then 10. It's funny to see how bothered you are by a position that you bring it up in an unrelated topic. The funny thing is if you lot were to ever see my twitter burner account you'd see plenty of porn but it's pretty much all mature bodied females and males cis n' trans. I'm not exactly part of the market that's into 'teen' porn.

Keep hatin' though;)

Israel and the US, and the USA's weight in the UN are clearly, objectively, unobjectionably the stronger military force compared with Palestinian residents and refugees. My response, if you would read beyond that sentence, indicates that what I do not know is how to compare Israel/USA/UN with the other transnational military forces that are against Israel. You can't just fucking pretend like the organizations that were formed to represent Palestinian interests don't exist. And you can't pretend like those organizations are not also backed by even larger organizations like The Arab League. And when Iran is also involved in a proxy war with Israel in Palestine, I think it's pretty fair to admit that it isn't quite so easy to calculate military strength.

even if you were being modest about your understanding of the situation (which is apparently based on wikipedia articles) it was a pretty silly way to qualify your statement. The Arab League? Iran? Egypt? Countries that are filled with elites who wave the Palestinian cause to validate themselves and are happy to use them as a symbol of their opposition to Israel and the US even as they coexist or move towards completely amicable relations with Israel and do little beyond the occasional charity mission and perhaps provide some weak missiles to blow up against the iron dome. Maybe find some better sources to read about what's going on.

Yes, I am using wikipedia a lot right now to get a general outline of the political forces at work. I would recommend it, but I'm open to other sources. Please link to some sources and I'll read them. I'm reading 4 books on the topic right now:

1) Rashid Khalidi - Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness
2) Rashid Khalidi - The Hundred Years War on Palestine: A History of Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017
3) Youssef M Choueiri - Arab History and the Nation-State: A Study in Modern Arab Historiography 1820-1980
4) Rudolf Rocker - Nationalism and Culture

I have seriously found it very difficult to locate specific research on Palestinian political organizations and their relationships with the broader Arab World. And I think that it's an important, and overlooked, aspect of these conflicts.

It's terrible that Palestinians are subject to the fighting of all these nationalist groups. But it is also incredibly naive to believe that the grassroots, anti-nationalist struggles by anarchists and apolitical street fighters in the region compare at all with the massive, massive organizational forces fighting over the territory. Without being honest about the forces anarchist struggle is up against in Israel-Palestine, then we can easily throw our voices behind organizations that have in the past and now currently co-opt grassroots resistance for nationalist causes. Is that something we want to be contributing to?

I think we anarchists can be better than repeating the narratives of the lesser-of-two nationalist evils. We can construct our own narrative about what it means to us, as anarchists, to oppose nationalism and nation-states. We can highlight how nationalism creates war. Proudhon already was making this criticism of nationalism and its consequences when nationalism was just barely becoming a popular ideology in Europe. Anarchists have been involved in the region before the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

Let's build off all of that anarchist struggle from our collective anarchist past.

shouldn't you be off researching how extreme military dominance creates the conditions for what anarchists are fundamentally opposed to? the "collective anarchist past" can explain all that, if you are in good faith...

I mean, this person talks about Palestinian politics and criticizes Palestinian nationalism as well as Israeli nationalism - I'm not sure what you're asking for beyond that besides stuff that doesn't seem like it fits very well in what's mostly a reportback on a few days of rioting prefaced by some context about the Nakba. They also talk a lot about Israeli politics, which isn't surprising to me considering that's the context in which they live. Your response feels misplaced unless you're concerned that this Israeli person who doesn't seem to be Palestinian is being antisemetic.

If you are asking what my concern is with this Crimethinc piece then I already expressed in my first post that I am in fact concerned about antisemitism in the way the piece is written. Not explicit antisemitism, so I am not calling it out as anti semitic. But yeah that is what I wrote was my concern in the first post I made. Jewish self-determination is erased from the narrative and Jews are portrayed as being fascists, Zionists, and whatever besides comrades. The author links to Crimethincs piece about anarchist Jewish and Arab solidarity in Israel-Palestine but then they go in to discuss all the foreign power involved in backing Jews and none of the power involved in backing Arabs in the region. It just assumes Palestinian Arabs are indigenous and Jews aren’t, basically. Among other things like using terms like Judaize and not Arabize. Ignores the history of Islam’s spread to the region. Yes I am concerned about all that. When Jews in LA are getting physically attacked by pro-Palestinian marchers and anarchists in the USA are silent on it, I worry about where these narratives are taking us all.

Alright, you should probably get crimethinc on the horn then, hopefully they'll get back to you with a revised piece starting with the Jews entering Canaan and working their way through the founding of the first caliphate up to today. A little weighty for a piece about some rioting but hopefully they're up to the task.

Again, I think your criticism of this piece seems misplaced given it's written by someone who's likely Jewish themselves. You're taking a specific concern (is Palestinian solidarity in the US overlooking antisemetic actions) and applying it to an article that's not even written there. Did you miss this?

"What we desperately need right now is a joint insurrection, co-resistance, involving Jews and Arabs and all the people of this land, against all the authorities that keep us down and prevent us from seeing each other as fellow human beings. In the spaces of revolt, we must create autonomous liberated territories in which we could construct new ways of seeing each other and the world around us—to reinvent living, sharing a space as equals"

I'm not sure what you're talking about in LA but I'd wager it wasn't an event held by anarchists, in which case what are you asking of us? Should I get my affinity group together to issue a statement about an event that's about as removed from me as the situation this crimethinc article is writing about?

As for being concerned about how Israeli Jews are being portrayed, well, tough - I think this person has reason to be pessimistic given they perceive the majority of Israelis to be either actively or passively complicit with the violence of the occupation (in 67 and 48). Forgive them for not making more of an effort to highlight a few bright spots that don't represent the norm in Israeli society at all. Similarly with the term Judaization - this is a common term used by the Israeli government itself (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaization_of_Jerusalem#Defining_Judaization) and refers to policies that are totally relevant to what's going on in the conflict they're writing about.

Also, I am putting away $100 a month towards supporting Jewish-Arab solidarity against nationalism (Arab, Palestinian, and Zionist) and against Israel’s oppression of Palestinians. This kind of shit form Crimethinc gives me fucking zero direction as to what groups I could support that have both Jewish and Palestinian Arab interests at heart. It especially doesn’t tell me what actual anarchists can do to support this struggle without contributing to the nationalism that co-opts grassroots Palestinian struggle. And this is a fucking problem that becomes more clear when you look at the groups that compose the PLO, at Arab Socialism, etc. The Left has Socialist and Marxist (authoritarian) organizations in the region it can support that are integrated into the broader Arab and Palestinian political amalgam, but what do anarchists have? What it looks like to me, a Jew in the United States whose comrades seem to care less right now if nationalists attack because of what Israel does, is that the anarchist movement in the United States is OK with “solidarity” for the Left in Israel-Palestine and could give two shits about grassroots Jewish-Arab resistance and solidarity, especially anarchist solidarity.

The movement of American Jews (the largest population of Jews outside Israel) towards the Right is a big problem in this big struggle and a big part of that move comes from the Left alienating Jews and the Right’s nationalist bullshit looking like a better option. I worry a lot that anarchists are following a similar pattern with writing like this piece. But worse with IGD’s recent statement. Anarchists could come from a place of recognizing Jewish history AND Palestinian Arab history as a struggle against nationalism, but instead they are repeating narrative that subsumes Jewish self-determination in the Zionist project and then ignores the rest of the Jews who are opposed to Zionism, all while also ignoring the Arab nationalists that are supporting Palestinian resistance. The outcome of that sort of weight is that more people are going to attack Jews thinking that they are somehow supporting Palestinian non-nationalists. It’s disgusting and shameful.

Tell me where I can send $100 a month to solidarity work on the ground in Israel-Palestine that wouldn’t amount to supporting groups that enflame anti-semitism. I’ll send it. That’s real material support. But I’m not going to support nationalist groups who are overtly or by being cowards, going to advance Arab nationalist interests that include the ethnic cleansing of Jews.

in some way or another, or just do autonomous prisoner support, or a gigantic list of other things...

but as far as CrimeThinc. goes they have basically become a very milquetoast #popular_revolt type of deal. I don't hate them, but their old impoverished-romanticism/anarcho-mysticism basically turned into "you know what? Let's just promote anything that vaguely aligns with an anarchist perspective"

i don't even blame them for this: there's issues with romanticizing poverty and becoming a "cool" media project. Their left-movement solidarity is basically just the socialized extension of this. I'm just glad LBC came along and started a project which basically works towards validating cynicism and smashing ideology...

may we find that life affirmation for our hate-filled hearts...

Here’s the link the IGD post I mentioned, too: https://itsgoingdown.org/israel-out-of-palestine-resist-the-u-s-and-the-...

I know my frustration is spanning multiple essays, articles, statements from anarchists lately and I definitely see how that has impacted my response to this particular Crimethinc post.This, the IGD post, and the other post on @news (https://anarchistnews.org/content/free-palestine-what-does-it-mean) all popped into my RSS at the same time and this is the one that I wound up posting in. Mostly... because the IGD essay isn’t open to comments.

Yes that is part of my research, which oddly enough, leads to a focus on geopolitics and not micro-politics. So tell me, how was Israel’s military dominance built? Why did European and now United States powers arm and train Zionist militants? Was it nationalism? Wow what a strange circle we travel in where all roads lead back to the realization that anarchists should do everything we can to avoid supporting nationalist organizations that transcend the borders of nation-states they seek power in.

I tend to assume anarchists already understand nationalism is a root problem and don't consider acknowledging the reality of the occupation to be some tacit boosting of palestinian nationalism, that's just the strawman at least one anon has been busily attacking.

sadly, I don't think that is as true as it should be. How many times have anarchists in the United States latched onto national liberation struggles promoted by Bit Leftism? You know it's a problem, admit it.

It is a bigger problem now than it was at the beginning of the century.

And it isn’t helped by a counter globalization ideology that has now ideological captured the left which suckers in a lot of anarchists still.

The only necessary response I see is aggressive psycho regional anti-nationalism. Bioregionalism and cosmolocalism seems to be one way to do it with some libertarian input.

you know, even tho both of you really suck and should probably die in gulags and nobody would care (note that this is an ironic joke about your commie strawman bullshit before you can even start because of how predictable your pathetic bullshit is)

DESPITE ALL THAT, it's an interesting point. I can't help but notice that both of you keep insisting that any interest in this topic or acknowledgement of the fucked up situation in palestine is a tacit endorsement of nationalism but is it? no. of course not. don't be a jackass.

also, some people don't understand this aspect of an anti-state position very well, true. so there's a legitimate tension there that would be worth a real conversation with people who weren't two notorious bad faith pieces of shit. what a shame you suck up all the oxygen around here where an interesting discussion might otherwise occur?! oh well. what can ya do ... too bad, so sad, also who cares, none of this matters, etc

I and presumably the other guy are simply pointing that there is an adjacency problem to Pro-Palestinian nationalism not so much tacit endorsement though that does happen from non anarchists and even some of the dumber @s. I consider myself anti-zionist and would argue that Israel shares some characteristics with Nazi Germany. I do however think nationalism of all kinds needs to be undermined and you have to do this aggressively and in the faces of many leftists and would be nationalist cheerleaders.

Other person responding to Einzige here...

SirEinzige is correct, my point is not that interest in the topic is tacit endorsement of nationalism. But, your accusation does provide me an opportunity to elaborate...

At least since the Anti-War movement, and probably before then (summit hopping???), anarchists in the United States (those who I am most familiar with) have latched onto Leftist movements... often without representing themselves as anarchists at all. This means allowing authoritarians to organize and lead events in the streets, to control the narrative without challenging it, and ultimately it leads to those Leftist organizations driving all of that grassroots energy into their latest political strategies. In sum, anarchists wind up putting their "solidarity" energy into getting a politician elected. A weak stance on nationalism is part of the reason why.

Now having provided that background critique, I think this is how pro-Palestinian resistance is unfolding... MOSTLY. Anarchists could do their own marches and actions, release their own communiques, and repeat some of such said tactics as they also did during the Anti-War movement.

Again, what makes the anarchist position unique and distinguished for the Left is often the answer to what used to be called "The National Question". Here is how Marxists have answered that question:

Marxism and the National Question (Stalin): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism_and_the_National_Question

Karl Marx - On The Jewish Question: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/jewish-question/

Rosa Luxemburg - The Nationalities Question in the Russian Revolution: https://libcom.org/library/nationalities-question-in-the-russian-revolut...

V. I. Lenin - Theses on the National Question: https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1913/jun/30.htm

Leon Trotsky - The History of the Russian Revolution - Volume Three: The Triumph of the Soviets - Chapter 39 - The Problem of Nationalities: https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1930/hrr/ch39.htm

Regarding The Jewish Question, the National Question is also a big part of where the Bundists and the Zionists differed. But the Bundists still weren't anarchists. We have our own answers, but what we can learn a lot from our ideological opponents here. So, I would suggest learning about the history. It is enlightening.

ah yes ... so all of your crap here boils down to an even more boring "anarchists should": an elaborate bit of hypothetical purity masturbation. So whataboutism and the longstanding general assertion that "anarchists should" stop [blanking] and instead, they should [blank]! OBVIOUSLY!

ever notice how lots of sweeping generalizations are boring af and don't serve much purpose beyond self aggrandizement for the speaker?

It's not purity masturbation or whataboutism(I see you peddle that word like all the other cathedral controlled newspeakers). It's necessary for the health of anarchy.

some of you are apparently so insecure in yourselves and your beliefs that instead of just living your lives in alignment with your own values you seemingly spend almost all of your time online telling others why they are wrong and you are right. it's obviously not a good faith attempt and conversation or education, just dogmatic statements and insults. how has this has anything to do with anarchy?

seriously, you are doing some of the last things done by human beings on the planet. is being self serving in such a small way really the best use of your time?

Marxists are for "proletarian internationalism" in theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proletarian_internationalism

But, also part of their theory and part of their practice now and in the past, Marxists see nationalist movements as potentially *progressive* movements, capable of creating anti-capitalist states. So they often times wind up creating a form of Left-Wing Nationalism and support National Liberation Struggles, hoping to politically out-maneuver capitalist and right-wing nationalists that also compete for the same demographics. Like the supposed withering-away of the State that Marxists presume will come from transcending the categories of class struggle, they basically believe that nationalism will also wither-away. So their support for nationalism is instrumental and their ultimate goal is the erasure of national identities.

Anarchists have always been critical of this. Although sometimes developing their own ideas about proletarian internationalism, anarchists would never accept the goal of such nationalism as the creation of nation states. And anarchists have also been friendlier to national identities, even though critical of national liberation struggle's aims of state-formation.

This is why anarchist voices are so unique and capable of providing so much perspective when it comes to ethnic nationalist conflicts, like those we are seeing in Israel-Palestine. But that is only if anarchists have the courage to speak as anarchists and center this critical position. Otherwise, as said earlier, anarchists become fuel for Marxist's instrumental use of national liberation struggles... which means we basically hype up a cause that leads to the election of civic nationalists (liberals, capitalists) or left-wing nationalists currently aiming to create their own nation-states, like many of the groups that form the PLO.

I am anti nationalist and anti statist. If I am walking down the street and I see a bully beating up on an old lady, I'm knocking that fucker out. The fact that the old lady is a statist and the bully is anti state does not trump the context of that moment and who is oppressing who.

you fool that old lady was hitler! also you were so untrained you made a fist with your thumb on the inside of your fingers and broke it! the old lady laughs at you, takes your lunch money and goes to the beer hall to buy a round on you.

moral of the story: don’t be a tough guy in anonymous comments on the internet.

How many old ladies are there in charge of the so-called Palestinian Autority? Beyond that I don't see the comparison with Palestinians, or their dominant political faction (Hamas) which is supported by Iran. As jsyk, I don't see many "old ladies" shooting missiles at civilian targets within Israel, but sadly, political games or not, that's what happened earlier this month, and gave the "ZIONISTS!" exactly what they wanted for the ensuing bombings.

how likely is it that you're a good faith commenter? rather than part of the coordinated media blitz? that's a rhetorical question, no need to post more wall of texts...

lumpentroll asking me if I'm a "good faith" commenter, lol. Oh the irony!

I saw a coordinated media blitz predominantly in favor of Palestine... I wanna make this clear that the bombing of civilians in Gaza is brutal, terrible State violence regardless. Yet some lefties like you are still dead convinced in that made-up oppressor vs oppressed binary where "Palestine good, Israel bad" and "whatever Palestinian authority does can be fucked up, but ISRRRAAEEEEEELLLL!"

Iran and Turkey are foreign states with imperialist ambitions. Same for Germany and Britain back in the days when both Zionist and Pan-Arab nationalism first flared up. There is no "old lady" in there, other than the actual old ladies being brutalized by male despots on both sides of this mess.

you just strawmanned again ... like, I literally just said it and you just did it again. why are you telling me what I think?

also you're lurking even harder than I do. maybe you're just one of the regular trolls here having a chuckle about how this particular troll persona is a bit less tired and played out? even tho this last post was lazy...

Isn't " palestine " an ancient Semitic word meaning " Nomads who refuse to pay rent " and the reason why they were despised by King Herod?

Yes, well, the Philistines were that special kind of plebs, and occasional pirates. But the country known as "Palestina" was a whole different thing, and that's why this whole nationalism is problematic, especially when used against a Jewish statist project. (hint: what happened to Judea?)

Not much has changed in 2,000 years. The region had the Romans adding glamor and cultural invention to the backwater that was Judea, and boosting the power of the religious elite and assisting them in taxing and subjugating the surrounding nomadic and indigenous tribes which lived in the wilderness desert with their goats.

What happened almost 2000 years ago wasn't the Romans "boosting" the Jewish religious elite, but brutally genociding the Jews in Judea, and recalling it "Palestina".

No, the Jews after there release from Egyption slavery were given the area of present day Arabian Peninsula from Yemen in the south to Syria in the north. in which their 7 tribes (clans) wandered. The priests/princes of the clan that had dominance in the present day Jerusalem befriended the Romans to use them to assist in conquering their rival cousins. The idea of 7 united tribes is propaganda, rather, fierce warlords controlleď various regions and with the help of the Romans made Jerusalem a booming mercantile hub where Jewish money-lenders became wealthy and prospered on slavery and taxing those of the outer forbidden zones.

Ooookay, so theJerusalem bankers were giving loans at high interest rates and also taxing the Hittites and the Philistines who were actually the good guys in the whole biblical narrative, and Goliath was really an heroic symbol of freedom for a downtrodden and oppressed minority impoverished by debt, is that what you are saying?

Yes and no. Barrabas was secretly being supplied with Roman weapons by the Roman colonialists and their Jewish loan sharks to terrify and scare away some of the tribal groups living on the outskirts of Jerusalem. They knew that real estate prices would boom when the Romans built an aqueduct, baths and cobbled all-weather road to Bethehem. This complicated the power dynamic of the whole region when the population began skyrocketing with the high level of hygeine, running water and medicine the Romans introduced.

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